All lectures and forums will be held at Hunter College West, SW corner of Lexington Avenue and 68th Street, Rm# 714.

The theatre seats 250 people so tickets will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. Tickets are $25 general admission ($30 at the door with check or cash), $15 students with ID, and $110 for 5 events. There will be a private reception held after most events which is $35 to attend. All tickets may be purchased online by credit card, by sending a check ('Contact Us') or by calling 888.606.2282.

reThinking Animals David B. Edelman. James L. Gould, Dale Jamieson, Irene M. Pepperberg; Moderater: Diana Reiss The question of animal sentience, self-awareness and intelligence would have been heresy in the scientific community 50 years ago when animals were considered mere automatons--their behavior genetically hard-wired. But the possibility that they make choices, have emotions and create unique cultural identities has received a lot more attention in the past 15 years. While it is still controversial, there is growing evidence that many animals are much smarter and more sophisticated than we knew—and that brings up some difficult issues. Biographies>>

 

Exploring Creative Minds Marc Bekoff, Dorothy Fragaszy, Kevin McGowan, Diana Reiss; Moderator: Stuart Firestein The traditional definition of creativity includes the ability to solve problems, the use of intuition and the evidence of insightful perception to reach a solution. By these or any standards, many animals are indeed creative in their ability to achieve novel solutions to the challenges that are presented to them—both in their own environments and in the unfamiliar ones presented by scientists. Biographies>>

 

Living in Alien Worlds Jelle Atema, Tim Goldsmith, Katy Payne, Stim Wilcox Moderator: Carl Zimmer Animals experience their worlds in ways we cannot understand—with senses we have lost long ago or never had. They define their worlds with exquisite senses of smell and hearing, with vision that sees what we can't imagine, or with responses to chemical or electromagnetic properties that we are insensitive to. By these yard sticks, many animals are far smarter than we are. Biographies>>

 

The ALEX Project: Learning From a Bird Brain Irene Pepperberg Moderator: Diana Reiss Before the ALEX Project we had no idea what went on inside of a parrot's brain. ALEX and his teacher, scientist Irene Pepperberg changed the way the world understood what it meant to be a 'bird brain'. ALEX, a beautiful African Grey, expressed his wishes, scolded the people in the lab as well as his avian colleagues, understood the concept of zero, made up words, teased his teachers, and generally acted as if there was no hierarchy between the 2 species. ALEX had a unique and strong personality which he shared which all who would listen. Irene and ALEX were an amazing team. Biographies>>

 

So, You Think You Know Your Dog? Alexandra Horowitz, Evan Maclean, James Serpel, Steve Zawistowski Moderator: Don Moore How much do we really understand about dogs? They've lived with us for millennia but we still don't understand them as well as they understand us, and we're just beginning to understand what incredible roles they play in our lives. What more is there to learn about our best friends? Biographies>>